Box office preview: ‘The Bikeriders’ makes its debut as ‘Inside Out 2’ continues its reign

Remember a few weeks back, when there were no major wide studio releases, and how that turned out? Expect a repeat this weekend with only one movie getting a substantially wide release as “Inside Out 2” remains in the lead. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

“Loving” and “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols returns with the motorcycle drama, “The Bikeriders,” which will probably get the widest release of the new movies this weekend via Focus Features. Set in the late ’60s and early ’70s, it stars Jodie Comer as a Chicago woman who gets involved with a biker named Benny, played by Austin Butler, part of Chicago’s Vandals bike club, led by Tom Hardy‘s Johnny, The movie also stars Mike Faist from “Challengers.”

Hardy might be considered the biggest star of the bunch due to his appearances in the hit “Venom” movies. He’s also appeared in more than a few Oscar-nominated hits like Christopher Nolan‘s “Inception” and “Dunkirk,” as well as George Miller‘s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” though otherwise, few of his non-IP movies have connected. Butler really broke out playing “Elvis” in Baz Luhrmann‘s biopic, getting himself an Oscar nomination, while Comer is relatively new to movies with a role in Ryan Reynolds‘ hit “Free Guy” and a memorable role in Ridley Scott‘s “The Last Duel,” both in 2021, following her Emmy win for “Killing Eve.”

Nichols has been laying low as far as directing movies since 2016’s “Loving,” which got Ruth Negga an Oscar nomination, although there was a point where he was going to direct next week’s “A Quiet Place: Day One.” He was able to put together a fairly impressive cast for this one, with Butler and Faist being particularly hot this year from their two hit films, Butler playing a pivotal villain in “Dune: Part Two.” Reviews for “The Bikeriders” have remained solid since it debuted during the festival season last year with it currently at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Adapted from true stories about Midwestern bike gangs from that era, Nichols’ film was originally going to be distributed by 20th Century last year after debuting at last summer’s Telluride Film Festival followed by other festival appearances, before the studio suddenly dropped it. Focus Features stepped in to release it, giving it a moderately wide release into 2,500 theaters, which should be enough for a third place opening in the $8 to $10 million range due to the subject matter and cast.

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Either way, “Inside Out 2” will stay #1 at the box office with around $70 million, followed in second place by “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” with $19 to $20 million, as neither “The Bikeriders” nor anything else can compete with them.

June Squibb – who just provided a small voice role in “Inside Out 2” – stars in Josh Margolin‘s action-comedy “Thelma,” one of the highly-lauded films out of Sundance that has the Oscar-nominated nonagenarian star of Alexander Payne‘s “Nebraska” playing the title character, who seeks revenge after being swindled out of money by a phishing scam. Also starring Fred Hechinger (“The White Lotus”), the late Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey and Clark Gregg, Magnolia will be releasing this wider than any other previous film, into 1,000 theaters, building off the advance buzz to break into the low end of the Top 10.

Also opening fairly wide is Joshua John Miller‘s horror-thriller “The Exorcism,” starring Russell Crowe as an actor recovering from addiction issues who gets a job playing a priest in an exorcism film. It’s loosely based on the strange experiences Miller’s father, Jason Miller, had while playing Father Karras is William Friedkin‘s horror classic, “The Exorcist,” in 1973. Ryan Simpkins (“Fear Street”) plays Crowe’s daughter, with additional cast members including Sam Worthington, David Hyde Pierce, Chloe Bailey and Adam Golderg. This is going to be fairly wide release by the standards of indie Vertical, probably in the range of 2,000 or so theaters, enough to break into the top 10 somewhere in the $2 million range along with “Thelma,” having a slight advantage by being released into twice as many theaters.

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Just a few short months after Emma Stone won her second Oscar for “Poor Things,” she reunites with that film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, for “Kinds of Kindness,” a triptych film that also stars Willem Dafoe from “Poor Things,” Jesse Plemons from the recent “Civil War,” Margaret Qualley and Hong Chau. Searchlight is going to start with this in limited release where it should still do very well, despite its 2 hour 45 minute run time, and then it will expand nationwide next weekend, so we’ll talk more about it next week.

There are several other limited releases this weekend, including the new drama “Green Border” from Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, which has been receiving raves since debuting at the festivals last fall. Also, A24 will open Annie Baker‘s “Janet Planet,” starring Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler, in select theaters this weekend ahead of a wider release on June 28. And Emma Stone’s Oscar competition, Lily Gladstone, stars in Apple Studios’ “Fancy Dance,” which will get a limited release before streaming on the Apple TV+.

Check back on Sunday to see how the above films did.

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